Thank you Letter from Anna

Dear Everyone,

First off I would like to thank all of you again for helping me to get to Taiwan for the 2009 Deaflympics. It was an amazing trip with so many wonderful memories. But the most exciting thing of all is that we WON

THE GOLD MEDAL for USA.

We played our first game against Germany and won 4-0. (Guess what I #7 in WHITE made the FIRST GOAL of the games) . I #7 also had an assist to Liza Offreda #10 who made another one of our goals, Felicia Schroeder #2 made the other two goals with penalty kicks. She is an amazing player all around the field.

Our second game was against Denmark and we won that game 7-0. Kelly O’Steen #16 made 3 of the goals. It was a hat trick day.
She was on fire that day. I #7 had a head assist to Kate Ward #19 and she made a goal. That was so much fun. Here we are Congratulating Kate for making the Goal!!

Our Third game against South Africa was canceled because they dropped out of the games… so upon stepping on the field we were considered the winners. :o) Easy GAME.

Our fourth game was against Great Britain and we again won that game 2 – 1. It was an unbelievably hot day and everyone was moving slowly that day. God was with us that day cause winning was a gift. Felicia Schroeder #2 was our hero because she made both of our Goals. I #7 did have an assist to her for one of the goals, but I have to say that was my only saving grace during that game. The only reason that Great Britain made a Goal was because I missed my mark. Not a good game for Anna. But Felicia #2- she is a BEAST.

That put us in the Finals. We waited to see who we would play. Russia and Germany were playing and it went into overtime. Germany was behind and came out after half time and made 3 Goals in the first 15 minutes. It than went into overtime and Germany came out winning 4 - 3.

So in the Finals we played Germany. The first half was a tough one. We went into half time with a score of 0 – 0.
The Coach was not happy with us. He told us at halftime that we had 45 minutes to make a decision if we wanted GOLD or SILVER. So after the half we went out to play the game. The first Goal was made by Liza Offreda #10. The Third and Fourth were made by Felicia Schroeder #2. The Second goal was made by Kate Ward #19. So at the end we beat Germany 4 – 0 and we WON THE GOLD MEDAL.

Oh I can’t even begin to tell you how happy and excited and thrilled I was. We went to Taiwan to get our GOLD and we did it!!!!!!

So to everyone that helped me to get to my GOAL I thank you. I have enclosed a picture of me holding up my Gold Medal with a smile on my face that I hope tells the whole story.
Thank you,

ANNA SMITHER – USA Deaf Women’s Soccer Gold Medalist